Daily, Weekly, Monthly Aquarium Care Featured

There are certain steps that you can follow to ensure that your aquarium stays clear, clean and healthy. Regular maintenance will keep any possible problems at bay.

We have all seen pictures of (or experienced ourselves) those algae-covered fish tanks, walls slick with green slime and tank decorations fuzzy with algae overgrowth. Seeing a tank like that may lead you to believe that caring for an aquarium is a hefty task to undertake. In reality, however, aquarium maintenance is not all that difficult – you just have to stick to a schedule.

Daily Maintenance Tasks

For the most part, your daily aquarium maintenance tasks involve simple equipment checks and observations of your fish. Spending just a few minutes each day to make sure everything in your tank is working properly will help you to avoid crisis situations in case your tank filter or another piece of equipment suddenly fails. Keeping an eye on your fish will help you get to know their normal routines and behaviors so you will be able to quickly identify changes that could be a symptom of disease. These are the daily maintenance tasks you should be performing on your tank:

Perform a quick check of all tank equipment to make sure it is working

Count and observe your fish to make sure they are all there and acting healthy

Wipe down the tank glass, if needed, to remove accumulated dust

Feed your fish according to your normal routine

Check the temperature in your tank to be sure it is within the proper range

Weekly Maintenance Tasks

The most important weekly maintenance task you should be performing is a water change. A water change involves removing a portion of your tank water and replacing it with fresh, clean water – this helps to remove accumulated waste and to reduce the concentration of heavy metals and dissolved toxins in the water. Below you will find a list of weekly maintenance tasks to perform:

Use a gravel vacuum to siphon between 15% and 20% of the tank volume

Make sure to siphon areas around and under tank decorations

Replace the removed water with freshly dechlorinated tap water

To make your weekly maintenance tasks easier, consider installing an EcoBio-Stone in your tank. These stones are made from porous volcanic rock and cement, infused with beneficial bacteria colonies and the nutrients they need to thrive. Once you install an EcoBio-Stone in your tank the beneficial bacteria will multiply and work to establish and maintain the nitrogen cycle in your tank, thus keeping your tank water clean and clear between water changes.

Monthly Maintenance Tasks

As long as you perform your daily and weekly maintenance tasks, you shouldn’t have to do any large-scale cleanings of your aquarium. There are, however, a few tasks you should do on a monthly basis to keep your tank clean.

Perform a 25% water change using a gravel vacuum

Replace your filter media (except biological filter media)

Use a magnet or algae scrubber to remove algae from tank walls

As long as you set up your tank properly the first time, maintenance should not be a significant issue. As evidenced by the lists above, there really isn’t that much that you need to do in order to keep your aquarium running properly. Keeping up with these routine daily, weekly and monthly maintenance tasks will help to keep your tank clean and clear.